Dear Co-Presidents and colleagues,

Nuclear terrorism is the common enemy of humankind, and the impact of nuclear security goes beyond national borders. Strengthening international nuclear security system is fundamental for the healthy development of nuclear energy and a key element in advancing global security governance, constructing new types of international relations and improving the world order. China is of the view that, under the prerequisite of respecting national sovereignty, all countries should be involved in the affairs of nuclear security and committed, in an open and inclusive manner, to the building of a community of shared nuclear security.

The title of my report today is ‘China’s practices relevant to the international nuclear security cooperation’, which is divided into four parts.

1. Cooperation with the IAEA

China always supports the leading role of the IAEA in coordinating and integrating global nuclear security resources and using its professional expertise to provide services to various countries and help developing countries improve nuclear security capabilities. China welcomes useful supplementary input of other relevant international organizations and mechanisms to promote pragmatic cooperation in law enforcement and other areas. China hopes that, in this process, the legitimate demands of the developing countries will be taken into consideration and assistance will be provided to them.

For consecutive ten years since 2012, China has made contributions to the IAEA’s Nuclear Security Fund, with a total amount exceeding $3 million and also provided to the Agency numerous in-kind contributions for the capacity building in nuclear security of the developing countries in the Asia-Pacific and other regions. By utilizing advantages of its domestic platform resources, China actively supports and participates in the activities of the Agency’s ‘Network for Nuclear Security Training and Support Centres’ and the ‘Nuclear Security Education Network’. Furthermore, in collaboration with the Agency, we have established in China ‘Collaborating Centre on Nuclear Security Technology’ and ‘Collaborating Center for Nuclear Security Capacity Building for Front-line Officers’. Several cooperation documents between China and the Agency have been signed, among others, for nuclear forensics and nuclear security for major public events etc. These cooperation activities provided strong support to China’s nuclear security capacity building and technological development and made positive contribution to the enhancement of nuclear security capability and human resources development in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.

China actively supports the IAEA’s Nuclear Security Plan and the formulation, revision, implementation and promotion of the Nuclear Security Guidance series. It takes an active part in the work of the Advisory Group on Nuclear Security to the Director General and the Nuclear Security Guidance Committee, and engages in information exchanges in relation to the Agency’s Incident and Trafficking Database(ITDB). Since the Amendment to the Convention entered into force, China has accumulatively sent 200 experts to participate in various nuclear security related activities organized by the Agency, which included nuclear security experts advisory missions, peer reviews, training and seminars; more than 20 training courses were organized in China at national and regional level on physical protection of nuclear materials and nuclear facilities , physical protection of nuclear materials in transport, state system and measures on physical protection, nuclear security culture and identification and assessment of nuclear security risks and threats, all of which were genuine efforts for the effective implementation and universalization of the Amendment to the Convention.

In September 2017, the IAEA was invited to perform an International Physical Protection Advisory Service (IPPAS) mission to China, during which an international peer review of the national physical protection regime and its implementation at facility level was conducted. The international panel reviewed legal and regulatory documents, interviewed personnel of the competent authorities and operators of nuclear facilities, and inspected on-the-spot physical protection measures of nuclear facilities. It fully affirmed China's good practices and measures in fulfilling its obligations under the Amendment to the Convention and in performing the responsibility of the state for nuclear security. China has also assigned experts to participate actively in the IAEA’s IPPAS missions in other countries.

2. Cooperation with other countries and regions

China has actively promoted bilateral exchanges and cooperation on nuclear security. In March 2016, the Center of Excellence on Nuclear Security(COE) jointly built by China and the United States was completed and put into operation in Beijing. Since then, the COE has played an expanding role in the development of nuclear security technologies, personnel training, international exchanges and cooperation. By the end of the 2021, it has hosted nearly 200 training courses and workshops, trained nearly 4,000 domestic nuclear security practitioners and more than 1,500 foreign ones, and developed good cooperation with nuclear security support centers in Pakistan, ROK, Japan and the European Union. The COE has not only played an important role in building China's nuclear security capacity, but also gradually become an influential platform for nuclear security training and exchanges in the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large.

China attaches importance to nuclear security policy communication with other countries. In September 2015, the Presidents of China and the US announced an annual nuclear security dialogue mechanism. Three dialogues were held in 2016, 2017 and 2018 respectively. In March 2016, the two heads of state issued the Joint Statement on Nuclear Security Cooperation. They then successfully held two dialogues on combating nuclear smuggling in October 2016 and in 2017. In February 2018, China and Russia held their first nuclear security dialogue.

China has actively implemented its political commitment to reduce the use of highly enriched uranium (HEU) and supports all countries to reduce the use of HEU in light of their national needs and as far as economically and technically feasible. In March 2016, China successfully completed the LEU conversion of an HEU miniature  reactor at the China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE). In August 2017 and December 2018, through collaboration with the relevant countries within the IAEA framework, China completed the LEU conversion of HEU miniature reactors in Ghana and Nigeria. Through such technical renovations, the proliferation risks of these miniature reactors were, on the one hand, reduced and the safety of these reactors was improved on the other hand. By assisting the countries concerned, China has thus contributed to a better conduct of peaceful uses of nuclear energy. China stands ready to build on these success models and continue to assist other countries in LEU conversion projects for miniature reactors.

3. Cooperation with other organizations and initiatives

China actively participates in the relevant work of the Nuclear Security Contact Group (NSCG) and also acts as the leading country for the Group’s regional capacity building and cooperation. In April 2018 and September 2019, China respectively organized, in its COE, the NSCG’s Regional Capacity Building and Cooperation Seminar and the High-Level Seminar on Capacity Building in the Asia-Pacific region. China will continue to play the leading role in the NSCG’s regional capacity building and cooperation in order to strengthen nuclear security capacity building and promote international cooperation therein.

As a founding partner of the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT), China has actively supported its work by setting up a dialogue and exchange platform for partner countries to build up their capacities against nuclear terrorism and building an international united front against nuclear terrorism. In October 2018, China held a GICNT seminar on countering nuclear terrorism and engaging in nuclear emergency response at major public events. China will also continue relying on platforms such as the COE and the Customs Radiation Detection Training Center (RDTC) to assist partner countries in enhancing their anti-nuclear terrorism capabilities. It will also participate in-depth in the various elements of the initiative.

4. Conclusion

China supports the Agency in providing continued assistance to Member States through conducting peer review and legislative assistance such as INSSP and IPPAS to address technical or legal challenges encountered by them in the implementation of the A/CPPNM. China stands ready to continue to strengthen cooperation with the Agency and the Member States under bilateral and multilateral cooperation mechanisms, share our experience, jointly promote the effective implementation and universalization of the CPPNM and its Amendment globally and play a constructive role in maintaining the international nuclear security system and advancing global nuclear security governance.

Thank you, Co-Presidents.